Calls For Second Reversal Of Award To Embraer For Light Air Support Aircraft

Citing what it says is a threat to 1,400 U.S. jobs, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has called for a reversal of the recent U.S. Air Force contract favoring Brazilian-based Embraer over Wichita, KS-based Beechcraft Corp.

On February 27, 2013, the Air Force announced it had again selected Embraer and its U.S. partner, Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corp for an initial contract worth $427.5 million to build 20 Light Air Support aircraft in Jacksonville, FL, for delivery to the Afghan Air Force. Florida is a right-to-work state. The union said in a news release that the selection process is now facing "intense scrutiny" for choosing what Beechcraft and the IAM characterize as a "significantly more expensive aircraft" in the midst of sequestration. The union says the Air Force failed to "consider the impact on U.S. workers, the U.S. industrial base and U.S. national security interests."

“We should be very concerned whenever U.S. taxpayer dollars are used to create hundreds of jobs in any foreign country,” said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger. “We should be outraged when the loss of those jobs also threatens vital U.S. economic and national security interests.”

“I don’t know why the U.S. government is bending over backwards to accommodate Brazil in the midst of sequestration, but this is a real blow to American workers and taxpayers,” added Buffenbarger. “The claim by Embraer that most of their plane would be ‘built in the USA’ adds insult to the injury of the 1,400 jobs that will be destroyed here at home.”

The IAM represents more than 3,000 active and laid off workers at Beechcraft, which recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In 2012, IAM members ratified a new contract with Beechcraft that preserved pensions for employees while giving the 80-year old company the needed financial lift for a successful restructuring.

“In the midst of an industry-wide crisis, Beechcraft partnered with its employees and union representatives to give this storied company a new lease on life,” said Buffenbarger. “It would be a cruel irony if they survived the great recession only to be mowed down by a misguided bidding process that favored a foreign nation over U.S. national interests.”

(Top image Super Tucano provided by Embraer. Bottom image AT-6 provided by Beechcraft Corp)

FMI: www.goiam.org